MAC address dynamic assignment for a network element

ABSTRACT

Approaches for dynamic assignment of a MAC address. An article of manufacture may comprise a non-volatile memory and a network element that comprises a CPU. The network element may be a remote PHY device, an Ethernet switch, a Remote MACPHY Device (RMD), a Passive Optical Network (PON) Optical Line Terminal (OLT), a Passive Optical Network (PON) Optical Network Unit (ONU), a Wi-Fi hot spot router, a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) device, an O-Ran device, or a Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) routing device. A communication link exists between the CPU of the network element and the non-volatile memory of the article of manufacture. A module on the network element causes the network element to retrieve, across the communication link, at least one MAC address from the non-volatile memory of the remote PHY node and adopt a MAC address to identify itself any time that the article of manufacture reboots.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

The present application is a continuation of, and claims priority to,U.S. non-provisional patent application Ser. No. 16/155,687, entitled“RPD MAC Address Stored in Node,” filed Oct. 9, 2018, the disclosure ofwhich is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes in itsentirety as if fully set forth herein.

U.S. non-provisional patent application Ser. No. 16/155,687 claimspriority to U.S. provisional patent application No. 62/570,609, entitled“RPD MAC Address Stored in LMB,” filed Oct. 10, 2017, the disclosure ofwhich is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes in itsentirety as if fully set forth herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the invention generally relate to the field ofmaintenance and repair of network elements.

BACKGROUND

A Converged Cable Access Platform (CCAP) is an industry standardplatform for transmitting video data and voice content. The CCAP is ledby CableLabs of Sunnyvale, Calif. CCAP unifies the ConvergedMultiservice Access Platform (CMAP), managed by Comcast Corporation ofPhiladelphia, Pa., with the Converged Edge Services Access Routerplatform (CESAR), which is managed by Time Warner Cable, Inc of NewYork, N.Y.

CableLabs has publicly issued a Remote PHY family of specifications,known as the MHAv2 specifications (Modular Headend Architecture version2). These specifications describe how a CCAP platform may be separatedinto two components, (1) a CCAP Core located at a cable headend, and (2)a Remote PHY device (RPD), which is typically located outdoors. An RPDmay be located, for example, at the junction of the fiber and coaxplants in an optical node serving as a Remote PHY Node (RPN). A CCAPcore can control and setup data paths with multiple RPDs situated inmultiple fiber nodes. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a CCAP platform whichincludes an RPD situated inside an RPN in accordance with the MHAv2specifications of the prior art.

An RPD, depicted in FIG. 1 , is a networking element that communicatesover Ethernet/IP to other networking devices “northbound” (i.e., in thedirection from the RPD to the CCAP Core). In the “southbound” direction(i.e., in the direction from the RPD to the DOCSIS cable modem), the RPDmodulates information streams (data, video, voice, etc.) into RF, anddemodulates similar such streams from RF.

The RPN that comprises the RPD may also include other elements such asan RF amplifier module, a power supply, and the like. A CPU in the RPDis responsible for controlling the RPD processing, communications withother system elements (such as various northbound servers), controllinglocal node parameters, and other functions. The RPD is typically apluggable module into the remote PHY node (RPN).

To perform networking communications, the RPD requires an Ethernet MACaddress (which is a globally unique value) that identifies the RPD tothe world. The RPD may need multiple Ethernet MAC addresses, as suchwould be the case if the RPD had a multiple Ethernet ports, since eachEthernet port would need to be uniquely identified by a different MACaddress.

Typically, the MAC addresses are stored in a non-volatile memory element(included in the RPD module) during the manufacturing/production of theRPD module, enabling the manufacturer to factory-assign a unique MACaddress to the RPD, or a plurality of said MAC addresses if needed.Typically, the stored MAC addresses do not change thereafter for theduration of the device life. Whenever the RPD is booted and gets readyfor operation the CPU reads the MAC addresses stored in the non-volatilememory and use them for networking and other communications purposes.

There exists a need for other network elements which communicate with aparticular RPD to have a prior knowledge of the MAC addresses assignedto that RPD. The MAC address assigned to the RPD serves as an identifierof the RPD. When the RPD identifies itself through its MAC addressthrough an electronic communication, other network elements can attachfurther identifying information in the electronic communication for thespecific RPD (e.g., IP address, a human-readable node name, and thelike), interpret the electronic communication properly, associate theRPD with certain external database information, properly configure andinstruct the RPD, and so on. Accordingly, other network elements areoften pre-provisioned with, or otherwise informed of, a MAC address thathas already been assigned to a particular RPD so that those networkelements are ready to start communications with the RPD once the RPDconnects to them (e.g., after the RPD is turned on for the first time orreboots).

When an RPD must be replaced (for example, after a hardware failure inthe RPD or for functionality upgrade), a technician extracts the oldpluggable RPD module from the RPN and inserts a new pluggable RPD moduleinto the RPN. Since the newly inserted RPD has its own assigned MACaddresses different and apart from its predecessor, the physicalreplacement of the RPD has to be complemented with the re-provisioningall other network elements that need to identify the replaced RPD,replacing all identifiers of the previous RPD with the new identifier,or completely erasing the information database held for the old RPD andreplacing that information with a new information database for the newRPD. Such activity greatly complicates the process of maintenance andreplacement of failed RPDs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example, and notby way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings and inwhich like reference numerals refer to similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a CCAP platform which includes a Remote PHYnode (RPN) comprising a remote PHY device according to the prior art;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an RPN comprising an RPD and RF amplifiermodule according to an embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an RPN comprising an RPD and two othernetwork elements according to an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Approaches for simplifying the process of maintenance and replacement ofnetwork elements comprised with an article of manufacture are presentedherein. In the following description, numerous specific details are setforth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments ofthe invention described herein. It will be apparent, however, that theembodiments of the invention described herein may be practiced withoutthese specific details. In other instances, well-known structures anddevices are shown in block diagram form or discussed at a high level inorder to avoid unnecessarily obscuring teachings of embodiments of theinvention.

Ethernet MAC addresses are used as an identifier for networking devices,including but not limited to remote PHY device (RPD). Some of theseother network devices, especially modular platforms holding a pluralityof line cards, are designed to enable replacement of some of theircomponents, e.g., line cards mounted in the platform. To prevent theneed to re-provision external networking elements every time that a linecard is replaced, these devices often store one or more factory-assignedMAC addresses in a non-volatile memory placed in a non-replaceable partof the platform. Upon reboot, line cards that need MAC addresses obtainthose MAC addresses from that non-volatile memory. The non-volatilememory may store Ethernet MAC addresses for a plurality of line cards. Aspecific MAC address is assigned to each line card according to aplatform internal index (e.g., line card number). When a line card isreplaced, the new line card that took its place obtains the same MACaddress as its predecessor did, thus no re-provisioning of externalelements is required, facilitating easier maintenance.

Embodiments of the invention are designed to simplify the process ofmaintenance and replacement of network element comprised with an articleof manufacture, such as but not limited to a remote PHY node (RPN).Embodiments may be used in conjunction with a wide variety of networkelements comprised within an article of manufacture, including but notlimited to a remote PHY device, an Ethernet switch, a Remote MACPHYDevice (RMD), a Passive Optical Network (PON) Optical Line Terminal(OLT), a Passive Optical Network (PON) Optical Network Unit (ONU), aWi-Fi hot spot router, a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) device, an Open RadioAccess Network (O-Ran) device, and a Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR)routing device.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary article of manufacture, namelyRPN 200, according to an embodiment of the invention. RPN 200 shown inFIG. 2 comprises a remote PHY device (RPD) 210 and a RF amplifier module250. Remote PHY node 200 also comprises non-volatile memory 240 and RFport 280. Non-volatile memory 240, as broadly used herein, representsany type of digital storage capable of persistently storing a set of MACaddresses that are assigned to remote PHY node 200 (and which may besubsequently adopted by network elements comprised within remote PHYnode 200. While RPN 200 in FIG. 2 corresponds to a remote PHY node, inother embodiments not depicted in FIG. 2 , RPN 200 may correspond toother articles of manufacture than a RPN, such as a rack mount platformor a remote PHY shelf, for example. In accordance with embodiments ofthe invention, Ethernet MAC addresses are assigned to remote PHY node200 rather than (or in addition to) RPD 210.

As shown in FIG. 2 , a communication link is established between CPU 212of RPD 210 to non-volatile memory 240. Upon reboot of RPD 210, CPU 212of RPD 210 reads the Ethernet MAC addresses assigned to it fromnon-volatile memory 240. Subsequently, RPD 210 uses those MAC addressesfor identifying itself to other communication elements.

Network elements may use MAC addresses in this manner to adopt a MACaddress to identify themselves as a singular entity or may adopt a MACaddress to identify individual Ethernet ports therein. For example, CPU212 may retrieve a set of N Ethernet MAC addresses from non-volatilememory 240 upon boot-up. Thereafter, those retrieved Ethernet MACaddresses may be stored in internal volatile memory and assigned toindividual Ethernet Ports 1-N of RPD 210.

Advantageously, upon replacement of a pluggable RPD, the new RPD obtainsthe same Ethernet MAC addresses assigned to its predecessor, and as aresult, identifies itself, and its Ethernet ports, with the sameEthernet MAC address(es) as the former RPD. Consequently, there is noneed to re-provision other external networking devices with informationabout the newly replaced RPD module, which greatly eases the burden ofmaintenance over the prior art.

Non-volatile memory 240 may store Ethernet MAC addresses for a pluralityof a node pluggable modules (RPD and/or other modules), and particularMAC addresses may be assigned to each particular pluggable node moduleaccording to a node internal index (e.g., node module location numberhardwired to the node platform). Various types of node pluggablenetworking modules can make use of these schemes (such as but notlimited to a remote PHY device, an Ethernet switch, a Remote MACPHYDevice (RMD), a Passive Optical Network (PON) Optical Line Terminal(OLT), a Passive Optical Network (PON) Optical Network Unit (ONU), and aWi-Fi hot spot router). Embodiments of the invention may be used inconjunction with various numbers and combinations of modules comprisedwithin an RPN.

To illustrate, consider FIG. 3 , which is a block diagram of an RPN 300comprising RPD 310 and two other network elements, namely Wi-fi hot spotrouter 320 and Passive Optical Network (PON) Optical Line Terminal (OLT)330, according to an embodiment of the invention. Each network elementin RPN 300 comprises a CPU, e.g., RPD 310 comprises CPU 312, Wi-fi hotspot router 320 comprises CPU 322, and Passive Optical Network (PON)Optical Line Terminal (OLT) 330 comprises CPU 332. Each CPU of a networkelement of RPN 300 may be used to retrieve one or more MAC addressesfrom non-volatile memory 340; thereafter, the network element may adopta retrieved MAC address to identify itself or a port thereon. While RPN300 depicts three network elements, other embodiments may be implementedusing a RPN comprising different numbers and types of network elements.

In an embodiment, the CPU of the network element may retrieve, acrossthe communication link, a plurality of MAC addresses from thenon-volatile memory. After rebooting, the network element may use of theretrieved plurality of MAC address to identify itself. The networkelement may use a variety of different strategies when determining whichof the retrieved plurality of MAC addresses to adopt to identify itself,e.g., a round-robin approach may be used.

In the foregoing specification, embodiments of the invention have beendescribed with reference to numerous specific details that may vary fromimplementation to implementation. Thus, the sole and exclusive indicatorof what is the invention and is intended by the applicants to be theinvention, is the set of claims that issue from this application, in thespecific form in which such claims issue, including any subsequentcorrection. Any definitions expressly set forth herein for termscontained in such claims shall govern the meaning of such terms as usedin the claims. Hence, no limitation, element, property, feature,advantage or attribute that is not expressly recited in a claim shouldlimit the scope of such claim in any way. The specification and drawingsare, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than arestrictive sense.

What is claimed is:
 1. An article of manufacture, comprising: a housingthat encloses: a non-volatile memory; one or more modular networkelements each comprising a CPU; and a communication link between the CPUof each of said one or more modular network elements and thenon-volatile memory, wherein said non-volatile memory does not residewithin any of said one or more modular network elements, and wherein theCPU of each modular network element is configured to retrieve, acrossthe communication link, at least one MAC address from said non-volatilememory and adopt a particular MAC address from said at least one MACaddress to identify itself any time that the modular network element inwhich the CPU resides reboots.
 2. The article of manufacture of claim 1,wherein the article of manufacture is a remote PHY node, a remote MACPHYnode, a rack mount platform, or a remote PHY shelf.
 3. The article ofmanufacture of claim 1, wherein the modular network element is a remotePHY device, an Ethernet switch, a Remote MACPHY Device (RMD), a PassiveOptical Network (PON) Optical Line Terminal (OLT), a Passive OpticalNetwork (PON) Optical Network Unit (ONU), a Wi-Fi hot spot router, aLong-Term Evolution (LTE) device, an Open Radio Access Network (O-Ran)device, or a Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) routing device.
 4. Thearticle of manufacture of claim 1, wherein the non-volatile memorystores a plurality of MAC addresses, and wherein each of the one or moremodular network elements use a module location number hardwired into thearticle of manufacture and provided to an individual modular networkelement to identify which, of said plurality of MAC addresses, to adoptto identify itself.
 5. The article of manufacture of claim 1, whereinsaid at least one MAC address is a first MAC address, and wherein theCPU of each of said one or more modular network elements is configuredto retrieve, across the communication link, one or more additional MACaddresses from said non-volatile memory in addition to said first MACaddress.
 6. A method for assigning a MAC address to a network element,comprising: establishing a communication link between a CPU of a modularnetwork element and a non-volatile memory of an article of manufacture,wherein both said modular network element and said non-volatile memoryreside inside of said article of manufacture, and wherein saidnon-volatile memory does not reside inside of said modular networkelement; and each time that the modular network element reboots, themodular network element retrieving, across the communication link, atleast one MAC address from said non-volatile memory of the article ofmanufacture and adopting a particular MAC address from said at least oneMAC address to identify itself.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein thearticle of manufacture is a remote PHY node, a remote MACPHY node, arack mount platform, or a remote PHY shelf.
 8. The method of claim 6,wherein the modular network element is a remote PHY device, an Ethernetswitch, a Remote MACPHY Device (RMD), a Passive Optical Network (PON)Optical Line Terminal (OLT), a Passive Optical Network (PON) OpticalNetwork Unit (ONU), a Wi-Fi hot spot router, a Long-Term Evolution (LTE)device, an Open Radio Access Network (O-Ran) device, or a LightDetection and Ranging (LIDAR) routing device.
 9. The method of claim 6,wherein the non-volatile memory stores a plurality of MAC addresses, andwherein the modular network element uses a module location numberhardwired into the article of manufacture and provided to said modularnetwork element to identify which, of said plurality of MAC addresses,to adopt to identify said modular network element.
 10. The method ofclaim 6, wherein said at least one MAC address is a first MAC address,and wherein the CPU of the modular network element further retrieves,across the communication link, one or more additional MAC addresses fromsaid non-volatile memory, in addition to said first MAC address.